Cornice box facia



June 2, 1959 A. J. TOTl 2,888,983

CORNICE BOX FACIA Original FiledAug. 8, 1955 INV ENT OR.

United States Patent CORNICE BOX FACIA Andrew J. Toti, Modesto, Calif.

Original application August 8, 1955, Serial No. 526,875,,

4 Claims. (Cl. 160-38) This invention relates to cornice boxes or overhead facia board structure as used to conceal the suspension mechanism of drapes and Venetian blinds, particularly the latter, and the principal object of my invention is to provide an easily applied outer face or facia quickly built up without special tools to exactly match the color of the Venetian blinds or drapes suspended from the box or from any structure concealed by the box.

This application is a division of and discloses and claims only subject matter disclosed in my pending application, Serial No. 526,873, filed August 8, 1955, now Patent No. 2,837,150, granted June 3, 1958 and shown at 123 of the drawing in said application.

More specifically the invention comprises a simple supporting structure whereby the outer face and ends of a cornice box may be quickly covered with sections of the actual thin flexible arched Venetian blind slats, preferably corresponding to the slats used in the venetian blind for which the box is intended.

The details of the invention are shown in the accompanying drawings and specificiation.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of the outer finished face of a cornice box wall made in accordance with my invention, with the righthand end of the under supporting plate broken away and extending beyond the also broken away outer facia elements.

Fig. 2 is an end view of Fig. 1 showing the thin, flexible, arched facia strips sprung into marginal supporting engagement with hollow ribs formed on the supporting plate.

The object of the invention is to provide a cornice box with special walls so arranged that outer facia elements made of conventional Venetian blind slat material may be snapped onto or sprung into marginal engagement with the wall or plate constituting the wall of the cornice box, so that since this slat material comes finished in many colors and textures, an outer finished facia to match the color of any Venetian blind or drapes associated with the cornice box, may be assembled in a few moments from the slat material, and though this material is extremely thin-generally about A of an inch thick, usually of aluminum alloy or steel-it will be firmly locked into place without screws or rivets.

In the drawings the supporting plate is designated 1, and the finished facia or slat elements are designated 2. For illustration three strips of the slat elements are shown, though there may be more or less, and of any length. These elements are shown extending horizontally or longitudinally of and to cover the base or supporting plate 1 which may represent the front and/or the end walls of a cornice box or be attached thereto.

The plate 1 is preferably of substantial sheet metal formed with rearwardly extending hollow ribs 3 with a narrow open crack or slot 4 on the normally forward side of the plate, and the side walls 5 and 6 of the ribs are bent backward toward the plate to form therewith at least an acute angle so that the margins of the slats which are bent backward as at 7 will hook over the relatively sharp edges of the slots 4, and project into the hollow ribs 3.

However, it should be noted that the slats 2 are of highly resilient spring material normally outwardly arched somewhat more than shown at 8 which makes their overall width normally less than 9 so that when snapped into position shown they are spread slightly from normal width and are each pulling tightly against their opposite hooked margins 7 which are each pulling tightly against their opposite hooked mar-gins 7 which are sprung over the edges 10 provided by the construction of the slots 4, and the two outer slats outer margins over the edges of the plate 1 itself, though it is obvious the upper and lower edges of the plate 1 may terminate as on a line 1111 of Fig. 2 cut in the middle of a rib 3 if desired.

In assembling the slats on the plate, each slat may be sprung into place progressively from one end to the other, one after the other, and similarly removed, starting with an outer slat. Also they may be shoved into place longitudinally, or so pulled out, where the plate is not too long to set up too much friction, especially if lubricated.

As the invention has been made with the distinct object of making it possible to easily use an existing readily obtainable article of commerce for a facia covering applied to the walls of a cornice box, i.e. Venetian blind arched slat material already finished, by simply bending their margins sharply toward their concave sides, and the cost of making up such slats to order would make the invention very expensive to use, I feel entitled to also specifically claim the improvement limited to such Venetian blind slat material as it has the required physical properties of flexibility, temper, and thickness to make the invention most practicable.

In use on a cornice box the plate 1 with slat facia strips in place, may 'be used as the front wall, and obviously if desired, the complete assemblage may 'be bent around a curve to form the end walls, or bent abruptly to form a sharp corner and end walls, especially if the rearwardly extending ribs 3 are notched to aid in doing so.

Having thus described my invention and the manner of its use, what I claim is:

1. A cornice box and facia construction comprising an elongated plate of a size and suflicient rigidity to form the outer vertical wall of the box, said plate formed with a longitudinally extending hollow rib on the rear side providing a narrow open slot on its front side, and a thin flexible springy facia strip provided with opposite hooked margins engaging the inner edge of and extending into said slot, and the opposite margin of the strip similarly hooked over the free edge of the plate.

2. A cornice box and facia construction comprising an elongated plate of a size and sufficient rigidity to form the outer vertical wall of the box, said plate formed with a plurality of laterally spaced longitudinally extending hollow ribs on the rear side each providing a narrow open slot on the front side, and thin flexible springy facia strips extending longitudinally of and covering the front side of the plate, each strip formed with rearwardly bent over opposite margins extending into said slots respectively and hooked over the edges thereof.

3. In a structure as set out in claim 1 said facia strip being a piece of conventional finished Venetian blind transversely arched slat material and with opposite margins bent over toward the concave side of the slat, the engagement of the margins with the plate being under tension so that by pressing the outwardly arched sur- 3 4 face of the strip toward the plate the strip will spread arched surface of the strips toward the plate the strips and release the tight engagement with the plate. will spread and release their tight engagement with the 4. In a structure as set out in claim '2 said facia plate. strips each being a piece of conventional finished Venetian blind transversely arched slat material and with op- 5 References Cited m the file of thls patent posite margins bent over toward the concave side of UNITED STATES PATENTS the slat, the engagement of the margins with the plate 2,638,162 Heiflinger et a1, May 12, 1953 being under tension so that by pressing the outwardly 2,806,524 Klentz Sept. 17, 1957 

